Six of One By Three
by Singerdiva01
Summary: After the fight in Six of One, Saul comforts Laura and forces Bill to confront some of his demons. A Bill/Saul/Laura story!


Bill was walking the line between buzzed and hungover by the time he stumbled back to his quarters. He knew he should be embarrassed the bartender at Joe's had to call an early last call to spare the Admiral's dignity. He knew he should be ashamed of the words he'd spewed at Laura and worried that, no matter where he'd looked, he couldn't find Saul.

Instead he eyed his hatch and weighed whether to have another drink to ward off the hangover already coming on or drink some water and take a shower in hopes of lessening its howl in the morning. He'd decided on a drink to have the energy for that shower by the time he got to the door but almost stumbled back into the bulkhead when it opened without warning.

Jack Cottle stormed out, an unlit cigarette dangling between his lips, and stopped short in front of his commanding officer. He stared him down for a moment, anger flashing in his eyes as he seemed to try to decide what to say. Finally, he settled for a hiss of disgust before continuing his stomp down the hall.

Bill looked at his marines for a hint and didn't know what to think when they wouldn't meet his eyes. Suddenly more sober with worry he quickly stepped inside and closed the hatch gently before making his way deep into his quarters to find Laura.

He saw Saul first, sitting in a chair by the rack in his tanks and uniform pants, shoes long discarded. Laura lay pale and motionless in the rack, seemingly unaware of Saul's fingers moving lovingly through her hair. Bill rushed forward to stand beside him, his heart pounding.

"What happened?"

Saul glared up at him for a long moment before glancing back down at Laura. He patted her head one final time and jerked his finger in the direction of the other room before standing and walking away.

Bill could feel his hands shaking as he followed. His stomach quaked and he knew this time it had nothing to do with the rotgut.

"What happened, Bill," Saul fumed as he turned on him suddenly, "is that I found her collapsed on the floor in the head. She said she'd just fallen asleep crying but she was so weak and hysterical I called Cottle. He had to sedate her, Bill."

Bill closed his eyes as the shame and fear washed over him. He opened them to Saul's accusing gaze and immediately started to move into the bedroom.

Saul grabbed his arm roughly and whirled him back around.

"Oh, no you don't. You reek of booze and you're for damn sure not gonna disturb her rest just to assuage your guilt. What the hell did you do to her?"

Bill's eyes flashed with anger.

"I didn't do anything to her, Saul. We had an argument. It certainly wasn't our first."

He stared down his friend. Even though they were all lovers, a family unit now as Laura liked to put it, Saul had no right to get in the middle of his individual disagreements with Laura.

"It was the first time you made her collapse. What the frak did you say to her? You can't do this to her now, Bill, the woman's dying."

Bill made a growling noise in response.

"The last thing Laura would want is to be treated with kid gloves because she's sick. She can hold her own with me, always has."

Saul took a step closer and Bill recognized his stance as one he'd seen in the ring many times before.

"She could with the Bill Adama she used to know. Her partner, her counterpart, the man who respected even when he was throwing her in the brig and would go to the end of the worlds to make sure she wasn't hurt. Not the nasty, old drunk you've become, forcing her to take care of you while she dies."

Bill swung the first punch without even thinking, hitting Saul squarely in the jaw. The other man was ready, however, and far more sober and he dodged the second easily. His own punch connected with Bill's cheek, sending him stumbling to the floor. Tigh was on him in a second, his legs around his waist, and the two old sparring partners quickly found themselves wrestling on the floor.

Even over their grunts and muttered expletives both men stilled immediately when they heard a soft voice calling from the other room.

"Saul?"

Tigh levered himself off the floor and wiped the blood streaming from his nose with his thumb. He shot the man on the floor a disgusted look and headed for the rack.

"Frak," Bill muttered as he stood and unsteadily headed after him.

He entered the room just in time to hear Laura's shocked reaction, her words slightly slurred due to the sedative.

"You're bleeding, Saul," she whispered. Her eyes widened the moment she saw Bill. "You're both bleeding. Oh my Gods."

Bill watched as her face crumpled and the tears started to flow down her cheeks. He made a move to comfort her but Saul got there first. He crawled over her with practiced ease and cradled her to his chest as her distress turned to warbled sobs.

"It's alright, Laura. We're both fine, it's alright," he comforted softly as he stroked her back.

Bill watched and could feel his own tears building. Laura looked so frail, so tiny pressed against Saul's larger frame and even through his still fuzzy thoughts he realized he'd crushed the strongest woman he'd ever known twice in one night.

When Saul looked up at him all the anger from a few minutes before had left his eye only to be replaced by pleading anguish.

"Hand me a tissue from the stand, go take a shower, and then come to bed, Bill."

He stood rooted in place for a moment before nodding and reaching for the tissue to hand to Saul. With one last glance at the two loves of his life he exited the room for the head.

He paused in front of the drink cart and considered its' promise of comfort. He'd reached for the glass and opened the bottle before it hit him, harder than any of Saul's blows, that only an alcoholic would go for another drink after what had just happened. Shaking his head to ward off that label, one he'd long ago allowed Saul but never came close to applying to himself, he screwed the lid back on and replaced the glass.

The water did little to wash away the thoughts swirling in his head. He could stop any time. It had been a frakking rough week and he deserved a little release. He'd never hurt anyone with his drinking before tonight and that hadn't even really been because of the booze. Laura baited him, she got the response she wanted. She knew everything he was going through.

He climbed carefully over the lip of the shower and reached for a towel to wrap around his waist. He grabbed his razor and cursed when he dropped it directly into the trash can.

He got to his knees with another round of curses and dipped his hand into the bin carefully to find the blade. Instead, his fingers found something soft and devastatingly familiar. He pulled the long red strands out and gasped at the realization that this was far more hair than Laura ever lost in the course of her nightly hair brushing ritual.

He wrapped the strands around his fingers and stood slowly to face the mirror.

He let the tears fall, careful not to make any noise that would have Saul leave Laura's side. He cursed himself for thinking his own pain could ever compare to what Laura must be feeling. He berated himself for once again hurting the first woman he'd ever truly loved. He vowed, even as his throat tingled for acidic liquid relief, never to let it happen again.

By the time he found his way back to the rack Laura's tears had stopped but she still lay pressed against Saul's chest and his hands were still rubbing soothing circles across her back. He stood a few feet away, awkwardly shifting his feet as he wondered if he was welcome in his own bed. If he even deserved to be welcome in his own bed.

Evidently Laura sensed him and his conflict because she carefully shifted so she could meet his eyes.

"Come to bed, Bill," she said softly.

She lifted the covers for him and he climbed in. He held his body stiffly, unsure if his touch was welcome, but she wrapped her arms around his chest and leveraged her weight to nestle close.

"You alright?"

He shuddered at the feel of her breath on his skin. The lie he'd been about to tell stuck in his throat.

Saul, who'd so far only watched the exchange warily, sighed and pressed himself against Laura's back. He reached over her to find Bill's hand and moved their clasped fingers to rest on Laura's hip.

"He will be. We'll all be, I promise."

Laura hummed and Bill smiled sadly at Saul as her eyes fluttered shut. Saul squeezed his hand and closed his own eyes.

As Bill gave himself over to sleep he found himself thinking of the drink cart again.

Even as he pushed back a final nagging need at the back of his throat he knew this was better comfort than it could ever provide.


End file.
